The Amazing Chan Adventures: Episode 2
by Known Unknown
Summary: Old Friends And Enemies: After returning home from their adventure in Mexico, the Chans' hope for time to rest is dashed when an old friend meets mortal danger.
1. Prologue

The Amazing Chan Adventures Episode 2 – Old Friends And Enemies

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures, or any of these characters.**

_**Synopsis: After returning home from their adventure in Mexico, the Chans' hope for time to rest is dashed when an old friend meets mortal danger.**_

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><p>Prison years are not something many enjoy, particularly not Daolon Wong. Being trapped in an infuriatingly average prison like an infuriatingly average person was… well… infuriating. He should be lording over the fools who trapped him in this foul jail not locked within it like some common criminal – he was master of dark chi, a shade above the unexceptional brutes that dare call themselves kingpins, not some vagrant thief.<p>

Stuck in drab, demeaning prisoner's clothes, spending his days ladling food for slobs and vagabonds in a filthy kitchen, looked down upon by the young, ignorant prisoners around him. It was enough to make him retch. A life sentence, feh. He knew that even without his power the chi influence on his body would give him twenty, maybe thirty years left in this worthless hole, with no chance to escape without his power.

"Blast them. Blast them all!" he ranted in his cell, as he often did at night – at this point, the others in his cell block were too used to it to bother trying to make him shut up – they just shut it out. "If not for that treacherous dragon Shendu and that sanctimonious good chi wizard I would be all powerful, instead of languishing my years away here in this forsaken prison." He paced around his cell, gesturing wildly. "Surrounded by fools, reduced to the meanest position like a common man. Is this what is to become of the great Daolon Wong? Withering away in this humiliating environment?"

"Ancient wisdom. Only through humility may we learn the true nature of success."

Daolon snapped towards the sudden sound to see a man who had not been there a moment before sitting – no, floating – above his bed. He was short and scrawny, with a thin, weasel-like face and a ratlike grin spread under his long, wiry moustache.

"How dare you!" he shouted. "Who are you and why have you invaded my home!" He winced at referring to his drab jail cell as his home, but he had spent years there after all.

"Now, now… is that any way to someone who is going to return you to your former glory, Daolon Wong?"

"You know me?"

"Of course. Your name is famed among chi practitioners."

So, this man was a chi wizard, that narrowed it down. Wait… that face! He sneered, "I know you. I've heard about you, anyways. You're a low class magician who uses artifacts and the fruits of others' skill to give yourself power, when you have none of your own!"

The small man's face turned impassive. "Ancient wisdom: those who live in glass houses should not throw stones."

Daolon scowled, "touché, magician. What is it that you want? Here to see what happened to the once great dark chi master?" He bitterly gestured to his less-than-stellar surroundings.

His gave him a flat look, "as I said, I am here to return you to your former glory, though if you don't want me to…" he made to get up off the bed. Daolon calmly stopped him.

"First, you will tell me how you plan to do so, magician. Then, I may refuse."

The man smirked, "The good chi wizard removed your ability to use your vast skills in chi magic, yes? And I am a monk, not a magician."

Daolon sneered again. "Whatever, and yes. Thank you for reminding me."

The monk ignored his last remark. "That is the key. He only removed your ability to tap into chi magic, not your vast ability and skill in using it."

"Yes, so? Get to the point."

"Patience, my friend. Over the years I have a acquired a spell that can circumvent the wizard's 'disenchantment,' by allowing you to use a limited portion of my own power-"

"What? You would have me use your pitiful skills?"

"No, not my skills, just my chi. You would use your own magic, but use my chi as a kind of magical battery to power it." The monk's eyes narrowed. "And it would do you well not to be so condescending in the future."

"Urgh… fine. Proceed."

"It is not much, and it is only a temporary solution. Luckily, however, I know of a scroll holding an enchantment that can permanently return your magic, just as powerful as it once was!"

Daolon snorted. "I see. And if you were in such a position to help me why wait until I have been in this rathole for years before offering? I sense an ulterior motive."

The monk smiled that ratlike smile again – neither he nor Daolon Wong had any pretence that his visit here was spurred on by actual altruism. "Recently, I have located a book containing spells of great interest to myself. A collection, actually. Spells of the type that are no interest to you, but which I am most intent on obtaining. They are held within the same place that the scroll you require is held, but unfortunately, due to the events of my last visit there, I cannot return without endangering myself. I do not possess the skills to overcome this setback, but you do. With your help, I can remove that danger and help us both."

"I see, so you only truly help me once I have done what you want. Feh. Daolon Wong is no one's puppet."

"I assure you, this is more of a mutually beneficial partnership – we will both end this getting exactly what we want. And plus I give you the opportunity for something we both want very much."

"And what is that?"

"Revenge on Jackie Chan…"

Daolon Wong smiled wide, and an old malevolence sparked back into his mismatched eyes. "Well, then… what are you waiting for?"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I always found the fact that Daolon Wong went to your average, everyday dreary prison to be extremely funny as a fitting punishment. More full notes next chapter.<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures or the characters therein, that is all.**

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><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

The first thing Jade Chan did the evening she returned from Mexico, besides saying a brief hello to Tohru, was rush up to her room, pull open her computer and access the internet. She had no idea how the ever went so many days without the world wide web – at the very least she was dying to tell someone the story of what she just went through, and she had just the idea who to email about it.

Oddly enough, Jade seemed to have more friends on the internet than she did in real life – and not just your average detached internet friends, but real, true friends. To be honest, the only person she really connected with here was Jimmy – other than that, she was still seen as strange and a little off (if not outright crazy) by her classmates. It was ironic, really. After Jackie publically helped save the world and all, Section 13 had to cover it up by saying it was some kind of weapon based off of a mythological monster, as part of a plot that her uncle and their allies had just happened to get caught up in the middle of while trying to recover stolen artifacts (or something like that, she couldn't really remember the cover story that well), so her talks of demons and magic was still seen as nuts by her classmates.

Not that that caused her to stop, naturally.

But the fact that she was talked about and seen as a nut didn't bother her much. She had her Uncle Jackie, Tohru and Jimmy, Uncle, even El Toro and Paco, and her friends all around the world – from young kings to adventurers and everything in between. And greatest of all: her friend Xu-Lin.

After she and her Uncle Jackie had saved the girl from her cursed imprisonment in the mythical Lotus Temple, she and Jade became fast friends. By the time they had gotten her back safely to her intensely grateful parents the two girls had exchanged addresses so they could send each other letters, and it wasn't long (once the letters got kind of boring, which did not take long) after that Jade introduced her to the magic of the internet and convinced her to get a computer. Even after all these years, the two remained in constant contact with each other, and Jade often tried to visit her whenever she and Jackie were in the neighborhood, so to speak (more like in/near the country, to be specific).

Xu Lin was the first person Jade thought to tell (besides Tohru… perhaps that brief hello was not so brief after all), but to her surprise once she got online she found that Xu Lin had already sent her an email while she was out of town. Jade smiled – Xu-Lin's letters were always clear, proper, and very polite, just like the girl herself:

_Dear Jade,_

_I hope this reaches you before you leave for Mexico, but if not I hope you enjoyed your trip. Please try to get along with that Paco this time, you two are good friends after all as far as I know. And try to avoid catching some kind of Mexican flu, I would hate to catch it while I am there._

_Yes, you did read that correctly: I have great news! I will be coming to the United States as part of a school program next week, and will be staying for a month. And even better, I will be staying with you! My parents and I have already cleared it with your uncles some time ago, and I am very excited to see you, Jackie, Uncle and Tohru again. I wanted to surprise you, but I just could not resist the urge tell you any longer. I hope this isn't a problem, if it is I'm sorry. Please tell me as soon as possible. I not, I will see you soon!_

_Xu-Lin_

Jade smile turned into a broad grin. Xu-Lin was coming there to San Francisco, and staying with them at Uncle's shop! So that was why Jackie and Tohru had been making up one of the upstairs rooms for the past month (she would have words with her dear uncle for keeping this from her, that's for sure) … and maybe explained why Uncle was a bit crabbier than usual these days (though who could tell, really?). Jade laughed – with El Toro and Paco coming up from Mexico in a few days as well, Uncle would probably be ready to snap at anyone and everyone soon (best to tread lightly). She would be able to introduce her friend to all the sights of San Francisco, it would be tons of fun.

She rolled her eyes at her friend's apology – honestly, that girl was so melodramatic – and quickly wrote a response.

_Hey Xu Lin! That's great news! Of course it's not a problem, I can't wait to see you! You have got to stop being so nervous about stuff. I so have to plan a bunch of cool stuff for us to do._

_As for Mexico, I totally enjoyed it! You wouldn't believe what happened…_

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><p>Halfway across the world, in the town of Dali, China, Xu-Lin read her friend's response and smiled softly. If anything, she probably understated how excited she was to see her friend again – it seemed like far too long since they had last seen each other. She, like Jade, did not have much luck making friends from the people around her. Sure, nobody thought she was insane like they did with Jade (undeserved, but not entirely without reason, she thought with a giggle), but after spending five years frozen in youth in the Lotus Temple she had a hard time adjusting to life again. She had to go back to her ten year old's life after everything, and meanwhile while all of her old friends had moved on, the world had gone ahead without her, and she felt as though she never quite had a place – if it wasn't for Jade and Jackie's help and friendship she would never have been as well adjusted as she was now: nowadays she was pretty much adjusted and happy, and thoughts of how much she missed barely ever brought her down any more – but she still had that feeling of being off that she could never quite shake.<p>

She was broken out of her thoughts by her mother's calling - breakfast was made and waiting for her! Closing her laptop, she quickly packed up her school-things and hurried down the stairs to the dining room.

"Good morning Xu-Lin," her mother said as she walked into the room, "how are you this morning?"

"Just fine, mother," she responded brightly as she took her seat.

"Using your computer before school again, I see," said her father, who worked as a businessman in a neighboring city (another thing that changed while she had been cursed). Though his tone was critical and his face was mostly obscured by the newspaper he was busy reading, she spied a hint of a smile at the edge of his mouth. She tried not to smile in return. "Keep that up and you might be late, and then what would you say? 'Sorry, teacher, but I was hypnotized by my computer's power.'"

"Those computers turn children into mindless drones, always playing games and never concentrating," her mother said sternly, without her father's humor, "I don't want to see you turning into one of those."

"Of course," Xu-Lin smiled, "I am sorry, mother. I promise I will not be late again."

Her father chuckled. "You said that last time." Xu-Lin blushed, and her mother even smiled through her stern look. They had all missed this during the time Xu-Lin had disappeared.

"I did get mail from Jade this morning, though!" Xu-Lin beamed.

"Oh, did you? That's wonderful!" her mother said. "Did she agree to let you visit?" Xu-Lin nodded.

"Excellent!" her father said, "I know you will enjoy San Francisco. I enjoyed New York the one time I visited… though I have heard the two cities are quite different…"

"Nevertheless, this will be a wonderful experience for you," her mother responded, "but remember, Jade is kind but has a habit of getting herself into trouble. Go easy on my heart and try to keep the both of you out of too much danger, all right?"

"You do not have to worry, mother. Jade is very good at getting out of trouble as well."

"And we are all grateful for that!" her father said proudly, and they all laughed – Xu-Lin happiest of all. It was good that they had long passed the point where referring to her curse resulting in ending conversations and awkward silences. She could still remember the moment she walked back up to her home and saw her parents again after five long years, both of them looking far older than they should have been. It took some time, but now, five years later, things were finally back to normal.

They finished breakfast uneventfully, with a chat here or there, except for halfway through, when Xu-Lin quickly spotted something… unsettling out of the corner of her eye.

"Father," she asked, not entirely sure why she was but hiding the odd nervous feeling she was starting to get anyway. "May I read that newspaper after you are finished with it?"

"Taking an interest in the news, are you?" he chuckled, not realizing his daughter's apprehension "of course you may, just let me finish the business section."

Xu-Lin did not get a chance to read the newspaper after her father finished, as immediately after breakfast she had to get to her last day of school, but luckily her father remembered to let her have it. On the way to school she finally got to look for whatever brief glimpse she had noticed earlier. It was a photograph. A photograph of something huge, white, and blurry. Something about it stirred something in the pit of her stomach, and she looked to the adjoined article for explanation.

_Terrifying Beast Strikes Again_

_Last night marks the fourth attack by the strange, horrifying monster that has been plaguing the town of Dali over the past month, this time in a grocers run by one Mrs. Juan Zhao. As per the other attacks, evidence points to something larger and stronger than a man, with slash marks present all about the scene. In addition, the was once again an odd freezing of several objects around the area. However, unlike the other attacks, in this case there is concrete photo proof– Mrs. Zhao's own grandson Jie took the accompanying picture from his camera phone, though was not able to give a full account. Police are still unavailable for comment, which may mean…_

Xu-Lin stopped reading there. She was right, it was unsettling. That sounded like – it couldn't be… but still, the evidence couldn't be ignored. A huge, hulking white beast terrorizing the populace. Freezing everywhere, in the middle of summer. She knew the place that had been attacked, it was only a few blocks from her house. Mrs. Zhao was a friend of her mothers, and she even went to high school with Jie.

But this couldn't mean… could it? Could it have been her? Could she have been turning into the guardian of the Lotus Temple again? How could she have been… wouldn't she remember? She had remembered before. But… what if it had been happening while she was sleeping? Thinking back on it she couldn't remember dreaming or even sleeping well recently… what if she was somehow turning into the monster while she slept, and then went to places she knew of and started attacking people. She certainly knew how to get to Mrs. Zhao's grocery, and she would certainly remember…

Looking back on it later, she really ought to have told Jade: her Uncle would possibly have been able to figure out whatever was going on, and they could have dealt with it together. The idea even occurred to her then, but she had to know for sure, with her own eyes.

The fact that she had to wait through a day of school before finding out was harrowing, and the stories going around from her classmates did not help. Though his grandmother had not allowed him to give an interview to the press, it was certainly not for lack of knowledge. He described everything: the monster's size, it's strength, it's agility. He mentioned long, almost rabbit like ears and legs, and clawed talons that slashed through the walls like butter. This did little for Xu-Lin's disposition, but only made her more sure she had to see the site for herself. Unfortunately, after school she had promised to help her mother run errands (which carefully avoided the Zhaos' place, she noticed), and after her father came home the two of them worked on his filing together (if there was one thing she had learned those years alone surrounded by scrolls and books in the Lotus Temple, it was organization). By the time she was free, it was late at night – she would have to sneak out if she wanted to go to Mrs. Zhao's store now.

She felt terrible going against her parents' trust like that, but she had to know for sure, and plus she was a bit frightened of going to sleep. She pretended to be sleeping for a few hours, until she was sure her parents were asleep themselves, before opening her window, jumping across to the tree next to her bedroom, and climbing down. Jade would be proud, she thought grimly. Not wanting to stay out for any longer than she had to, she ran to the Zhao's store as fast as she could and snuck into the store (not noticing the suspicious lack of anyone around), noting with more unsettling feelings the broken windows and busted doorframe.

The inside was as harrowing as she expected. Everything was wrecked and strewn about everywhere, and several walls and displays were covered in a thick layer of ice, that apparently had not melted at all despite being there for a full day in the midst of summer heat. What's worse, she recognized it. The claw marks, the qualities of the ice, the footprints left in smashed furniture, everything. It was the guardian. It was… her. But how?

A million questions buzzed through her brain, before she was distracted by a pair of voices talking just outside the back of the store. One of them sounded familiar, and numb as she was from her discovery she could think of nothing else but to investigate their conversation, while staying out of sight to avoid discovery. She quietly opened the back door of the store and peered into the alley behind it. Further down, she noticed two relatively short but shadowed figures

"Well, it seems she finally came."

"I told you she would, didn't I. Ancient wisdom: curiosity killed the cat."

"Yes, I suppose. I must commend your powers of illusion, magician."

"The Scrolls of Fang-Sun were quite helpful in that regard… and I warned you not to call me that, Wong."

"Yes, fine…"

So engrossed in their conversation, Xu-Lin did not register that they had turned towards her until it was too late.

"There's no use hiding, girl. We know you are here. We have been expecting you."

Stunned at being discovered, she unwisely but tentatively entered the alley, though she at least kept the door open behind her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"So soon you forget," the shorter man mused, "or have you? Perhaps you only want to forget. Ancient Wisdom: A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever." With that he exited the shadows, and Xu-Lin took a step back in shock.

It was the magician who brought Jade and Jackie to the Lotus Temple in the first place, the one who wanted to use the temple's secrets for his own personal gain. The one they had left to suffer the curse after allowing her escape. "You! But… how? Why?"

"Surely the young Miss Chan told you I escaped the temple – in a similar way to how you did, coincidentally. I have certainly had a number of memorable encounters with them over the years."

Jade had told Xu-Lin about the monk's escape. Five years ago, it had been with concern, but now he was merely one of the many characters in Jade's many adventurous anecdotes. Xu-Lin never expected to see him again. "Why are you…"

"Why am I here? Is it not obvious? You took our bait perfectly – it was clever of us to cast spells and illusions to copy the characteristics of the Lotus Temple's guardian perfectly, though we shall no doubt have the real thing soon."

Something about that last part bothered her, but she couldn't think of that now. "W-what is this?" Xu-Lin stuttered nervously. "This is a trap! You are trying to get to get back at Jade and her uncle by using me!"

"Not exactly," he said blandly, "When you are ready, Wong." He turned to his companion. Xu-Lin did not recognize him, but there was something about those mismatched eyes. They reminded her of something Jade once told her.

"I was ready before this foolish conversation was even begun!"

The man impatiently waved his arms and murmured what Xu-Lin was sure was some kind of spell, though she was definitely not willing to learn what it was firsthand. She turned on her heel and dashed back into the store, her mind racing. A bright light flashed behind her, but she didn't stop and look around to see what had happened, she just kept running. She darted through the broken shop, vaulted over the broken window frame, and tore off down the street as fast as her legs could carry her.

Back home, where hopefully everything would stay normal.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Sorry it took so long, folks. Computer crashed. Anyways...

Wherein friend and family sentimentality segways into something more sinister... I enjoyed writing Xu-Lin's parents more than I thought it would. Too bad they won't be appearing for a long time.

If there's anything Jackie Chan Adventures did so right that I'd say it was their crowning achievement, it was oneshots episodes. Lots of shows make episodes that have nothing to do with the plot, and in the end they just come off like they shouldn't have been there. But Jackie Chan Adventures was different. Every season had almost half of the episodes be oneshots about new adventures and one-time expeditions, full of plots that kept you in and, most of all, characters you tended to enjoy and maybe even want more of (Jimmy, Tohru and Uncle's apprentice, is one of those characters, and others will be appearing here as well)

My favorite of all those episodes (indeed, in the entire show) was The Lotus Temple - both the villain and Xu-Lin became favorite characters for me, and while I was glad the Deadpan Monk (he was never given a name in the show, so I'm taking pains not to give him one here) showed up at least once again, though like every other oneshot element, I was a bit sad that Xu-Lin and the events of the plot were never mentioned again. In this series I'm going to try to include a lot of the oneshot characters. Xu-Lin and Jimmy especially are going to be important.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own pretty much none of this.**

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

Jade and her uncles arrived at her door the very next day - they got there so fast Xu-Lin wondered if they might have even left immediately after Jade first received her email - they did seem worried enough, after all, and they didn't waste any time. Right away her two uncles went to work looking for a trail after the two dark chi wizards, while Jade stayed behind to reassure her. "Don't worry," she said, "we'll catch those two jerks and make them wish they'd never come within a hundred miles of here!"

Unfortunately, Jade was mistaken. Even though they started at the alley behind the store - which Uncle said was teeming with magical energy - and spread out from there, they couldn't find hide or hair of the two wizards. It was almost as if they had skipped town immediately their encounter the previous night: whatever the reason their suspicious sudden disappearance made them very nervous.

As Xu-Lin had just had her last day of school anyway (though Jade still had a week or so left before her break), and she was already planning on coming to America, Jackie decided the best idea would be to take Xu-Lin back with them, just in case the two wizards were hiding somewhere just waiting to strike again once the Chans left. Luckily, Xu-Lin was already all packed, all that was left was to explain the situation to her afraid and confused parents. This was the hardest part - she had already stammered an explanation the previous night after returning home, but leaving seemed to bring on the full brunt of the situation. And even then, there was a lot they didn't know - Xu-Lin had told them some of the story of what had happened while she was trapped in the Lotus Temple but not all of it (particularly exactly what it meant to be a Lotus Temple Guardian), and she wasn't keen on telling them everything now. After all, it had taken them all a long time to overcome the pain from the last time magic entered their lives, and now that it had returned - perhaps in an even worse way - she didn't want to make things even worse.

But anxious as they were, even if she was hesitant to tell them the full story her parents understood. They took the Chans' advice and allowed her to leave right away, with soft but concerned smiles on their faces as Xu-Lin waved goodbye.

"Keep your chin up, Xu-Lin," Jade said, "by the time your month is up this will all be a funny memory, and we'll be thinking about other stuff, I swear." Xu-Lin could only smile sadly in response.

They brought her to what had to be the sleekest, most expensive jet she had ever seen. According to Jade they had called in a favor from Captain Black, a man Xu-Lin had never met but who she had heard a lot about over the years. She resolved to thank him should they ever meet face to face. The crew was a little larger than she would have expected to take just her and the Chans to San Francisco - apparently Captain Black had insisted on them bringing along a little backup just in case it turned into a confrontation with Daolon Wong - but soldiers as they were they were still all too happy to help them get settled in and ready to go.

Soon they were up in the air, leaving China for the coasts of California. Xu-Lin's mind was racing with everything that was going on - she wanted to feel glad that she was finally off to visit her best friend's home, and excited to explore a whole new country, but instead her mysterious meeting with the dark chi wizards edged into her thoughts. Why were they there? What plans did they have for her? What was that flash she barely avoided? Worrying questions buzzed through her head in rapid fire for hours on end, and it didn't help that Jade kept bringing her back to the subject.

"That was a dirty move that Daolon Wong pulled!" Jade fumed next to her for what must have been the twelfth time. Xu-Lin wished she would just look out of the window instead - Jade had immediately called dibs on the window seat, but Xu-Lin was fine with taking the aisle - she was not feeling well. However, they had been in the air for hours so Jade was probably too bored to do that. Plus, they were already over the edge of San Francisco, and Jade had probably seen the cityscape too much to find it very exciting. So, it fell down to talking instead. "Why did he want to attack you, anyway? You weren't even in his way or anything! I swear when I see him I'll…" She made a wringing motion with her hands that almost made Xu-Lin smile.

"I am not sure he was the one behind this," Xu-Lin said wearily. Ever since her meeting with the two wizards she felt… strange. She couldn't explain it, it was almost like being stunned. Almost lightheaded. "The other wizard, the monk from the Lotus Temple, he seemed to be giving the order."

"That is odd," Jackie said from the seats behind them - the Chan clan and Xu-Lin had taken the more comfortable seats in the back of the jet, while the soldiers from Section 13 sat up front. Jackie sat back, calmly listening to their conversation while Uncle slept behind him. "But regardless of whether he wasn't strictly calling the shots, he is still the more dangerous of the two. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the brains behind the operation." Beside her Jade chorused in with a "yeah!"

"I suppose," Xu-Lin said absently. Now that all the hecticity was over and she was able to rest, she was starting to feel even worse. She wasn't tired, but for some reason she felt faint and unbalanced. She thought she might feel nauseous, maybe even totally airsick, but that wasn't it either - it was more that she had been spun around a dozen times and then dropped into a vat of freezing water. "Excuse me," she mumbled, "I think… I think I n-need to see the restroom. I'll be…" She trailed off she stood up and a lightheaded feeling passed over her - she gripped the top of the seat for balance.

Jade looked at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

"I…" Xu-Lin started, just before things got much, much worse.

At that moment, something terrifying happened. Something that Xu-Lin thought would never happen to her again. Something overpowering and electrifying. Something that dominated her whole mind and shocked her whole body with a jolt. Not quite a voice, but an order all the same - clear as day after all these years.

_**INTRUDERS!**_

No, it couldn't be. She had left that behind years ago. It was gone! She was nowhere near the temple! She was normal now! And yet, there it was.

_No… oh, no… it can't…_ she thought with a shudder.

_**INTRUDERS!**_ it told her right back.

The call hit her like a tidal wave. She felt the familiar, not-quite-forgotten feeling of starting to change, and she sank to her knees clutching her sides as she tried like mad to fight it back.

"Xu-Lin!" Jade shouted. Both her and Jackie stood up, thinking she was sick.

"Jade… I… I'm…" Xu-Lin stammered weakly through clenched teeth. As it was, she could barely hold herself together - it had been far too long since she had had to resist the curse, and even back then she never could. "H-help, I'm…"

Her explanation was interrupted by a pair of furry antennae sprouting out of her dazed forehead, twisting her face into a goofy expression. This, honestly, explained things a lot better than she would have been able to, especially since at that moment she completely lost it.

"No… no way!" Jade shouted, taking a step back. "It couldn't be, that's impossible!" Unfortunately, fate again proved her wrong. She and Jackie watched in horror as Xu-Lin rapidly shifted into a hulking, snowy white monster, complete with talons, claws, and intimidating snarl.

The guardian of the Lotus Temple had returned. And it didn't look happy.

"Oh my…" Jackie gasped. The huge beast heard and turned to the source of the noise with an icy glare.

"X-xu-Lin?" Jade said softly. She ignored her uncle's warnings as she took a few tentative steps forward. "Xu-Lin, you in there girl? Come on..." Further ignoring Jackie's protests, she reached her hand out trying to connect with her transformed friend.

The guardian stared at the humans in front of itself in confusion. It must dispose of all intruders, it knew, but there was something telling her these two were not intruders. There was a small but powerful feeling, one that she remembered from somewhere, that told her these humans were not to be hurt. _Friends…_ it thought, and it visibly relaxed.

"That's it…" Jade said, "Just calm down. We'll figure this out…" The guardian took a step forward, but not aggressively, and reached out to the hand Jade was offering. It looked like whatever was going on it would be solved peacefully…

"What the heck is that?" Came a voice from the other side of the the plane. The soldiers at the front had obviously noticed the enormous monster standing in the middle of the aisle. Hearing the noise, it turned and roared at the interruption.

"No!" Jade pleaded, "Xu-Lin, listen to me!"

But it was too late. One of the soldiers that hadn't fallen off of their chairs at the sight of the beast saw the roar as a sign of danger. Reaching for his firearm, he led the others to the center of the aisle and took aim. "Stand back, Mr. and Ms. Chan."

"No! Wait! Don't!" Jackie yelled, but to no avail. He had no other option but to take Jade and dive behind their seats as the agents opened fire. The ammunition was non-lethal, in theory, but powerful enough to stop a rhino and made to incapacitate particularly powerful human threats. Xu-Lin was sent reeling to the ground by the force.

Jade went cold. "Xu-Lin!" she yelled. The soldiers smiled at each other in triumph, not entirely realizing the situation. Their relief, however, was premature. In fact, opening fire in the first place was looking like a bad idea: while they were distracted, the guardian rose to its feet, hurt but not down and more furious than ever. In a rage it roared again, this time sending a beam of ice from it's mouth directly at the unsuspecting agents and freezing them, the door to the cockpit, and in fact the entire front of the passenger area solid before they could react.

"No! Xu-Lin! Don't!" Jade jumped at her enraged friends, but the beast shrugged her off and advanced menacingly towards the helpless soldiers. Only one of them was able to move out of the way, but only just - the agent who first opened fire attempted to dive out of the way of the freezing blast, but ended up with one of his legs encased in ice.

The sight of a hulking monster coming right at him was one thing. The fact that it took off heavy ammunition without going down was another. And it having the power to take out his whole group with one blast was a third thing entirely. But being essentially crippled was just too much. The average man would be scared out of his mind right now, but not a prime agent of Section 13. Sure, he was terrified beyond belief, but he was still just lucid enough to notice a few things. For instance, how the creature was still close enough to the back of the plane for one last-ditch crazy idea.

Section 13's planes were a little more tricked out than the average passenger or even military plane - every model, from the large to the small, was equipped with failsafes, tricks, and capabilities put there for any number of James Bond-esque emergencies. This was looking like one of those times.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote with a dozen or so buttons. "Sit down, M-mr. and Ms. C-chan!" He was stuttering now, probably from the cold, but still looked determined.

Jackie, on the other hand, was just as determined not to just leave the fight. "What are you going to-"

"No time for questions! I s-said sit down!"

He could see the agent was up to something, but he didn't know what, and Jackie did not want to be caught off-guard by whatever it was. Reluctantly he sat down, but not as reluctantly as Jade, who yelled "no" over and over again as he struggled to pull her away from her friend and down into her seat.

The agent, who still did not realize who the monster he was fighting was, nodded curtly. "Say goodbye, snowman!" He pressed a button on the remote, and two things happened simultaneously: an automatic metal strap/lock extended over each seat, holding the Chan's to their chairs, and the back door of the plane popped off.

Jade and Jackie winced as a powerful suction whipped past them, pulling stray trash and luggage out of the hole in the cabin. Jade was just barely able to grab her laptop as it flew past them, while other equipment went crashing together across the floor and through the air. The guardian was taken aback, but braced itself and tried with only some success to stand its ground. It slid slightly backward, and used its claws to grab the seats in an effort to stay standing, but only barely kept itself stable.

"Not going down yet, eh?" the agent growled. He inched towards the first seat of the cabin, where a flare gun lay in a side compartment. With it in hand he took careful aim and fired a flare directly into the creature's face. The guardian howled in pain, grabbed its face to push away the flames and so lost its balance. With a staggering bellow it fell onto it's face, slipped to the back of the cabin and tumbled out of the plane into the sky, along the way crashing against the equipment closet across from the back door (a poor design choice, Jackie made a mental note to take it up with Captain Black) and knocked it open, sending the various stores inside falling out into the San Franciscan air along with it. As the guardian fell clear from the plane, another door slid out from the chassis to replace the lost one.

The agent whooped in triumph. "Ha! I got it!"

And then he collapsed in a mix of pent up fear and exhaustion. Call it a mini-panic attack.

"XU-LIN!" Jade screamed. "NO!" She furiously tore and pulled at her seatbelt in an attempt to get free and do something, anything, to help her friend. Jackie, on the other hand, managed to keep his calm and quickly found the button to disengage the belt. Without hesitation he made his way to the equipment closet in the back and checked it's stores. Only one parachute left, and there was no question who was taking.

He sighed as he pulled out the parachute. "It's lucky we were in the city already, we were flying low. Kind of. She'll probably feel this in the morning, but the way she is now maybe she'll be all right. At least, I hope." He turned to his niece. "Don't worry, Jade." He started. "I'll-"

Predictably, she cut him off. "I'm going with you!" It wasn't a question this time, and Jackie wasn't surprised at all. There were tears running down her face as she finally broke free of the seat belt (which was broken in half rather than properly opened) and looked at him with a mix of determination, fear, and anger.

"No, Jade. I can take care of this," he put his hands gently on her shoulders and spoke softly, but sternly. "I understand you want to do something, but you have to go with Uncle and find out what's going on. It's the best thing you can do for Xu-Lin right now. You're the only other one who knows anything about what's going on. Uncle needs you. Xu-Lin needs you. Please, for once just do as I ask. For her sake."

Jade looked hesitant for a second and Jackie briefly thought she might not listen anyway, but then she bowed her head and wiped her eyes. "Fine. Ok. Just… make sure she doesn't get hurt. Please." She looked up at him again. Her eyes were still misty. "I'm counting on you Uncle Jackie."

He knelt down and hugged her. "Don't worry, I will." With one last wave he pulled the emergency lever on the back door, pulled it open and jumped out. The door closed behind him automatically, and just like that Jade was alone.

Mostly.

_"Hey! What is with all the noise?"_ Uncle yelled from his seat, _"can't you see Uncle is trying to get his beauty sleep?"_

* * *

><p>Immediately after he jumped out of the plane, Jackie realized he had no idea what he was going to do. Granted it was always like that, regardless of what Jade liked to believe, but this time he was really lost.<p>

On the one hand, he didn't want to hurt Xu-Lin. He had no idea how much hardier she was in that monstrous form - he could tell it was a lot more, but he still didn't want do anything that might injure her too much - he remembered from the first time that getting hurt enough to turn back into herself took a lot out of her. Too much damage might do terrible harm to the poor girl.

On the other hand, he didn't want Xu-Lin to hurt anyone else. In the state she was in she could wreak a lot of devastation, and nobody wanted that to happen, least of all him. Who knows what would happen to her if things got out of hand.

All of this was provided, naturally, that the fall to the ground didn't seriously harm her, but Jackie forced that one out of his head.

These thoughts were all going one after another during free-fall. As Jackie neared the ground he pulled his parachute and looked out for any signs of Xu-Lin's landing. It didn't take long - he quickly spotted a crater in the middle of a street that could only have been caused by a falling snow monster, either than or a piece of fallen satellite (which he thought was fairly unlikely). As he descended onto a nearby building, he noticed a few other things. Most importantly that Xu-Lin was nowhere to be found by the site. He sighed in mixed relief in exasperation. While this meant the fall apparently didn't seriously hurt her, it also meant she was on the move, and who knows what kind of damage she could cause.

Her trail wasn't hard to pick up. All he had to do was follow the property damage, screaming citizens, and frozen cracks along the streets, buildings, everywhere. He finally caught up to her under and overpass chasing down an understandably rattled motorcyclist.

From the guardian's perspective, it was as much chaos as it was from Jackie's. There were intruders everywhere. Dozens of them in sight, hundreds of them around her, and it was easy to sense millions of them in every direction. It was maddening - there was no peace, only threats in every place at every moment. There was no choice but to destroy them all, to drive them all running away one by one. No time to focus on the pain from the fall. Not while there were trespassers to finish.

Jackie knew none of this from her behavior, but he could make a guess that this had to end fast.

Luckily, the motorcyclist managed to drive off before anything unfortunate happened to him - the guardian was not able to move as fast as it could. The guardian roared after him, and when he didn't return she rested for a moment on the street, warily glaring at all the people running in a panic as far away as they could get. That's when Jackie noticed something: Xu-Lin wasn't moving very well. As he inched closer to her lumbering back and forth, he noticed that the beast was limping, not to mention needing to rest in the first place. So she _was_ hurt by the fall, but not enough knock her out. Maybe he only needed to attack her a little bit more, and the less he had to do it the better.

Once he got close enough, he readied himself in resignation. "There is no other way… sorry Xu-Lin." Resolving to make this as painless as possible, he took a running start and leapt at the girl-turned-monster. The guardian heard his motion, and turned to look in his direction just in time to take a flying kick to the face. She flew backward and smashed against one of the columns of the overpass with a crack.

Jackie landed gracefully, but unfortunately kicking a mystical guardian was a bit too much for his foot to take, and moment later was rubbing it painfully. "Oww…" Jackie winced. "Why does this always happen to me?"

Meanwhile, his opponent had recovered and snarled threateningly at him. Even though the guardian had marked him and Jade as

"Uh oh… oh, why can't it ever be easy?" Jackie braced himself, but the attack never came. He looked up, and saw a strange sight. Xu-Lin wasn't charging at him, she was thrashing around aimlessly - as if in a rage. He approached cautiously "Xu-Lin? Are you alright?"

Jackie had no idea what was going on inside the guardian's head. No matter how much it wanted to strike back at the man in front of it for attacking, something inside kept it from doing so. As if, even then, whatever it was that told her him and Jade were off-limits was just as strong. Confused as to what it should do, it swung out randomly and struck the overpass column again, causing the guardrail above to shake dangerously.

"Uh oh," Jackie spotted trouble quickly, "Xu-Lin, look out!" He ran forward to try and get her out of the way, but the guardian just turned and growled at him to stay back. And was then struck by the falling rail with a cloud of dust.

This was not a good thing from Jackie's perspective. "Oh no…" he sighed, making his way through the dust cloud. When he reached the center he sighed again, but this time not from worry but from relief. There lying harmlessly under the fallen rail was Xu-Lin, back to normal and apparently none too worse from the wear. It seemed the rail knocked the guardian out, and then sat benignly on her as she shrank back into her regular form.

"Finally," he said, gingerly pulling her out from under the rail. "Lets get you home, so we can deal with this." He pulled the girl gently over his shoulder and down the street, where a crowd was forming.

"Hey! What happened to the monster!" One man in the crowd asked. "And what did it do to that girl?"

Jackie laughed nervously. "Heh, it… uh… left. She couldn't take the excitement, I'll just… uh… get her to someplace she can rest." Before anyone else could ask him any more questions he took off down the road, leaving the curious crowd to inspect the area where the battle just took place.

"Xu-Lin..." Jackie murmered as they left, "what are we going to do with you…"

* * *

><p><em>"Why did you not tell Uncle the curse was not broken!" <em>(*whack*)

It didn't take long to bring Xu-Lin safely back to Uncle's shop, even if Jackie had carried her the whole way. She was still unconscious from her transformation, so they laid her down in Jade's bedroom. Now it was time to try and figure this out. Or, more precisely, for Uncle to figure it out.

"Oww! I thought we _did_ break it. We took her out of the temple and everything!"

Uncle slapped his palm to his face. Jackie winced. "No, you only removed her from where the curse was active. Not the same thing! All this time the magic laid dormant and inactive within her. If I had known, I would have removed remnants sooo quickly! But no, because my nephew _does not tell me anything!_" He whacked Jackie again.

"Owww! What about now? Can't you just remove the curse now?"

"Now? No, maybe before. But now…" Uncle trailed off.

"Now what, Uncle?"

"Now we-"

He was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Seeing that Uncle was not in the most patient mood even for customers (not that he was ever in a patient mood), Jackie volunteered to go get it, and opened the door to see who was possibly the person he wanted to see least right now, friend or not.

"Captain Black!"

"Jackie," Captain Black's greeting was incredibly impassive. "How are you?"

"Just fine, thanks," came the nervous response. "Nice weather we are having, huh?" Captain Black gave him a look. Jackie smiled sheepishly.

"I think that's enough small talk, Jackie," Black said shortly. "Where is the girl?"

"Er… what girl?" Jackie gave him his best innocent smile. Unfortunately, he was not a very good liar. He knew it, and he knew Captain Black knew it.

Sure enough, Black didn't buy it. Then again, the circumstances were against him here. "Don't play dumb, Jackie. The girl we picked up from China this morning. The girl who turned into a seven foot monster and took out a squad of my men. The girl who then went on a rampage throughout downtown San Francisco. That girl."

"Oh… yes." This time, Jackie put on a very convincing frown. It was easy, given how somber the situation was. "She… er… got away. We haven't been able to find her. But we're trying. Maybe you could help-"

There was a crash and was sounded like brief but loud language coming from upstairs. Jackie pretended not to hear it, but Captain Black picked up on it anyhow. He looked suspiciously up towards the second floor for a long moment. "Are you sure you had no contact with her after the incident?" He asked, not pulling his gaze from the upstairs as if waiting for something else to happen.

For once, Jackie lied with conviction. "No. We did not."

Captain Black kept looking upstair for a few moments, then gave a long sigh. "Very well then."

"You believe me? I mean-"

"No. But I trust you. I can figure out pretty easy that what's going on isn't that girl's fault, and I know that I trust that you and your Uncle - and your niece, sometimes - to deal with this right. Do what you have to Jackie," his face hardened for a moment, "but remember, if this goes out of hand, I'll be forced to act. Capiche?"

"I hear you loud and clear," he gave Captain Black a reassuring nod as he pulled the door closed. "Don't worry." Black returned the not with a smile.

"I won't. Good luck." He gave one last wave before the door closed between them. Jackie sighed in more relief before turning his attention upstairs - he probably ought to investigate what that crash was. Whatever it was probably not a good thing. And he was right, if the sight that greeted him when he reached Jade's room was any indication.

It looked as though the two girls were fighting. Jade had Xu-Lin in some kind of a headlock, while the other girl was fiercely trying to pull the two of them towards the door. There were a few pieces of furniture knocked over - presumably the crash from before, and the were tensely arguing.

Xu-Lin strained to push away from Jade and get towards the door, while Jade gritted her teeth with the effort of pulling her friend back. "Let me go, Jade!" Xu-Lin snapped. "Please! I must… turn myself in!"

"No… they'll lock you up… they'll throw away the key… they'll pull hideous experiments on you… you can't…"

"I have to!"

"What is going on here?" Jackie shouted from the doorway. Both girls turned up to him in surprise, having not noticed him enter.

"Oh, Uncle Jackie!" Jade pleaded, still pulling on Xu-Lin's arm. "Tell her she can't go and have herself thrown in jail over this."

"I must!" Xu-Lin sharply pulled her arm out of Jade's hands, but made no further motion towards the door. "You did not see it, Jade! All that destruction, all of that terror... People were hurt, and it was all because of me! All because of what I did."

"No one was seriously hurt, and it wasn't your fault, Xu-Lin," Jackie tried to reassure her. Jade put a hand on her friends shoulder, silently agreeing.

"It doesn't matter. I… I am a monster! It is all happening again! I have to be locked away, before I harm anyone else!"

"You're not a monster, Xu-Lin!" Jade said fiercely, "We'll beat this, just give us a chance! You don't have to do this to yourself!"

"No!" Xu-Lin shrugged away Jade's hands again, and turned to Jackie with an almost hysterical but teary look in her eye. "No, I can't! I won't let it happen again!" She made a move for the door, but Jade was too quick and grabbed her, and the battle began again.

"What are we going to do, Uncle Jackie?" Jade managed to grunt.

"I…" Jackie couldn't answer - he had no idea. But whatever train of thought he would have had was interrupted by the sound of muttering behind him. He turned to see Uncle humming a spell in the doorway and pointing at Xu-Lin.

"Please… you must… let me…" Her speech started to get softer and dozier as Uncle's spell took effect. The scuffles died away as Xu-Lin fell drowsily into Jade's arms, and then finally drifted into a calm sleep.

"Her chi is unbalanced from all that happened," Uncle explained. "She needs time to rest."

"Oh yeah?" Jade said as she laid Xu-Lin back onto her bed. "And what about us?"

"What else is there?" Uncle asked, as though it was the most obvious question in the world. "We must do reeeseeaarch!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Oh... this chapter. I don't know what it is. I had pretty much all of this planned out already, and it's not _too_ long, but then I got two paragraphs in and suddenly couldn't write anything else. This put all of my writing on hold. All of it. I was only able to write that Hey Arnold story on a 2AM flash of creativity that didn't last. Eventually I just powered through it, and my writing suffered a little because of it.

But still, here it is. Enjoy. Alas, poor Xu-Lin. Things goes even more downhill for her here as the situation rapidly goes from bad to worse. Take heart, it'll get better. Eventually. Sort of.

Some of you reading may notice a bit of pronoun trouble when it comes to Xu-Lin in guardian form, but I assure you that's intentional. When the narrator is without character it will tend to refer to the guardian as an "it" until a certain point in the future. Likewise, when the narration's from the guardian itself's point of view it will be referred to as an "it" as well. However, Jackie and Jade still see her as Xu-Lin, so when the narrations are from their point of view Xu-Lin will always be referred to has "she." And now you know!


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures. Which you can probably tell from the fact that as far as I know JCA never had a three month mid-season hiatus.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

Xu-Lin woke the next morning feeling slightly confused. She looked around her and saw she wasn't in her own room – this room was far to cluttered and messy to be hers. Clothes were strewn everywhere, there was some sports equipment lying on the floor… this had to be Jade's bedroom. She couldn't quite remember why, she was still quite muddled from sleeping, but she had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. She looked to her right and saw there was a chair next to her, where Jade sat looking tense and morose.

The moment she saw the look on Jade's anxious face everything started flowing back all at once, and the pit in her stomach grew ten sizes.

"Jade…"

Jade jumped – she hadn't noticed her charge had woken up yet. She turned herself around in the chair and gave her friend her full attention. At the moment, she wasn't sure whether to feel sad, concerned, or excited. "Xu-Lin! You're awake!"

"Jade, please tell me what happened yesterday was all just a dream. A terrible nightmare!"

"I'm sorry Xu-Lin… but I can't."

"No!" She cried. Tears ran down her face, and Jade couldn't bear it but to shed one or two herself as she watched her. "No, not again! What has happened to me?" She looked down at her hands in shock, and saw Jade take her hands in her own.

"I don't know, but Uncle might. I'm glad you're up, I think he's got something but he's waiting to tell everyone until after you woke. C'mon." Xu-Lin didn't move, and kept looking down. Jade winced. "You're not gonna go nuts on me like last night and try to turn yourself in to the fuzz, are you?"

Xu-Lin's face twitched, but she still didn't move and it was only after a long pause that she spoke. "No…" she said, with the weight of someone who was obviously considering it. "But can you blame me for trying? I am a monster. I must say here where it is safe, so I cannot hurt any one else."

"You're not a monster!" Jade almost shouted, for there was no way she was about to let her best friend feel that way about herself. "You're under a spell, a major curse, sure, but you're a good person. Don't let this stuff get you down, that's no way to do anything I always say." Xu-Lin showed a hint of a smile, and Jade knew she was reaching her. "We'll beat this thing, but you won't beat it sitting in bed, will ya?"

Xu-Lin sighed and finally looked back up into Jade's face. The idea of having someone to help her through it, especially someone with Jade's unending confidence, seemed to give her strength and she moved to get out of bed. "Fine. I will… try to stay optimistic. I think I need to get changed first, though."

Jade grinned. "Attagirl! Bathroom's down the hall!"

It took around fifteen minutes for the girls to get ready and make it down to the back room where the family was set to meet. Uncle was already there, poring over a book even more impatiently than usual. Tohru was casually helping him with his notes, while Jackie sat in the corner looking fairly unnerved.

"Good morning all!" Jade led the duo into the room with her usual indomitable cheeriness. "Or… is it afternoon?"

"Hatchaaa!" Came Uncle's inevitable screech. "You sleep too late! It is already afternoon!"

"Er… I am sorry…" Xu-Lin said sheepishly. If she hadn't known Jade's family long enough to know all about Uncle's signature crankiness she might have thought she was seriously unwelcome, though she felt somewhat guilty nonetheless.

Jade, meanwhile, glared fruitlessly at the old man rather than be taken aback. "Don't mind Uncle," she said to Xu-Lin, "he just hasn't had his mung beans yet."

"Been up all night studying ancient magicks for you!" Uncle continued. "Now you walk in past noon! This no way to treat your elders!"

Uncle ranted and raved on the other side of the room for a few minutes more, to which the others – used this sort of thing by now – only took occasional notice. At least, they took enough notice to know when to avoid getting whacked on the head.

Meanwhile, Xu-Lin turned to the only member of the family who had not come to pick her up the previous day. "Hello, Tohru." Tohru often came along with the Chans on their trips to China, so she had met him many times – in fact, she was slightly disappointed that he hadn't come along that time, though the events of the previous day kind of drowned that out.

"Hello again, Xu-Lin. I'm sorry to hear your vacation has gotten off to such a rotten start," he gave her an "I-wish-I-could-do-more" look, which got a smile out of her anyways. To Jade, Tohru was like a mix between a big brother and another uncle, and it was always nice to know Jade's family would be so accepting of her, even though she was cursed. Even Uncle's curmudgeonly complaining was welcome to her.

"Aw, don't worry T," Jade casually leaned up against Tohru's massive bulk, looking very nonchalant. "We'll have this whole thing fixed in a jiffy, you'll see."

Tohru suddenly looked mildly uncomfortable. "Er… actually…" Before he could finish the sentence, however, Uncle's rants finally started to regain focus.

"And now you assume too much!" His arms were crossed in extreme disapproval, but it was obvious he wasn't quite as angry any more.

"Wait… what do you mean?"

"Yes." Jackie said from the corner. "We would all like to know what is going on."

Tohru started again. "Well, we-"

At that moment there came a bang from outside as the front door to the shop flew open, followed by the clutter of frantic feet as someone rushed through the store – carefully, so as not to break anything. A second later, a boy wih reddish brown hair burst in through the back room door, out of breath and looking like he had just run a marathon.

"I'm sorry! Am I late? Just tell me what you need me to- oh, hey! Xu-Lin, live and in person!" The boy paused in his many apologies to wave a hello.

"Hello Jimmy." Jimmy was one of Jade's best friends – at least, the best friend she had who lived in the same country as she did – and Tohru's own chi apprentice. However, he didn't get around like the rest of them did: Jimmy was deathly afraid of heights, which included airplanes hurtling through the air at thousands of miles per hour, and often couldn't get his mother to allow him to leave the neighborhood let alone the country, so he had never travelled with the Chans to China. As a result he was the only member of the team Xu-Lin had never met in person, having even met El Toro and Paco at least once. However, Jimmy did sometimes join in on Jade's video chats or in their IM's online, so she knew him fairly well anyways.

"I heard about what happened, sorry about y- ouch!" he was cut off by a two-fingered whack to the dome courtesy of Uncle, who seemed to glide across the room in seconds.

"Uncle _needs_ assistants to _be on time!"_

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Jimmy said, shielding his head from any more assault. Uncle, however, seemed to be satisfied and turned back to the room, deep in thought.

"As I was saying…" Tohru started tentatively, practically waiting for something to interrupt him again. When a few seconds passed and nothing burst through his sentence, he continued on. "The curse has proven... much more difficult to break than we anticipated."

Jade's eyes widened, while behind her Xu-Lin's gaze fell downward. "What?" Jade shouted. "Why?"

"Well we-" Tohru sighed… and was immediately interrupted by Uncle.

"Spell of the Lotus Temple is powerful ancient magic. Not easy to be removed, even and especially when tampered with."

Tohru pouted and crossed his arms, but it was Jimmy who spoke up next. "But… can't we just dispel the curse?"

"No…" Uncle said calmly. "Lotus Temple magic is not dark magic – not inherently. The spell that befalls Xu-Lin is not true evil curse, but good magic condemning intruders to protect the temple's secrets – an inherently good, if ruthless, act. As it is not evil magic, a dark chi dispel will not work."

"Oh…"

"But that is not problem! There is magic to remove such spells, many of which are stored here. But the spell has gone beyond that. Daolon Wong's dark chi has tampered with the spell, causing it to warp, become almost unrecognizable to what it once was. We cannot find any magic that can counteract it now that will not dangerously disturb the girl's chi."

"So…" said Jade, "you're saying that Daolon Wong's creepy mojo made the spell into something totally different."

"Yes. If _someone,_" he turned to glare at Jackie, "_had told me the curse was not broken before,_ then I could have removed it. But now…"

Xu-Lin didn't look up, but even without looking at her eyes the others could see she was fairly distraught. "I see…" she said was a somber calm.

"There _is _good news." Tohru noted.

"Really?" Jade nudged Xu-Lin in an effort to get her to perk up.

"We will do _moooore_ research. But for now, Uncle has made temporary solution. The shop has been treated with special inscriptions, similar to the magic used in the Lotus Temple. While here, the transformations will become lessened."

"Now," Tohru said before the girls could get too excited, "that doesn't mean they won't happen at all. Daolon Wong seems to have altered the spell so that _everyone_ around you is counted as an 'intruder,' that's why you changed on the airplane. We couldn't stop that, but while you're here it should happen much less often. And don't worry, we're confident the wards will hold. Or at least, fairly sure. He he." Tohru grinned sheepishly, but neither of the girls held his unsure tone against him.

"Shop's library is much too small," Uncle gestured to the enormous wall of books behind him, as if they were somehow insufficient. "Not enough books on good and dark chi mixing together. We must go shopping!"

"Er... yes." Tohru agreed.

"Now?"

"Now!" Uncle shouted, shutting down any future questioning.

"I am sorry you have to do this for me," Xu-Lin said ruefully. Jade patted her on the back and grinned.

"Don't worry about it." She said. "Uncle's loves the thought of getting more info for his collection. Right Uncle?" Uncle said nothing, but gave a rare smile, prompting a thumbs up in return.

"And I have to get to work," Jackie sighed, looking a lot more relieved now that he knew Xu-Lin would probably not turn into a monster and tear up the store, or worse, while he was gone.

Tohru and Uncle moved to follow him out to the car, while Jimmy started along behind them. "Wait!" he asked. "What should I do?"

"Practice," Tohru said flatly. "You're still behind on guiding spells."

"But I-"

"Practice. Guiding spells."

"Aww…"

Jade laughed. "Seems even chi wizards can't escape homework!" She caught Xu-Lin's eye and grinned. Jimmy glared at them.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, At An Abandoned Warehouse In Downtown San Fransisco<em>

"How long will it be until you get something useful, Wong?" The monk scowled as he paced back and forth on the dusty floor. The warehouse itself was big, dilapidated and, best of all, vacant. No one had used the place in years – not even the homeless would go anywhere near it for fear of running afoul of a collapsing floor or frayed wiring.

From his spot on the floor, Daolon Wong paused in the middle of his scrying spell to frown in irritation. It was one thing to spy on the Chans despite the good chi wizards' protection, it was another thing to do so with the monk buzzing in his ear. "I cannot control the actions of the Chans or their ilk, magician. You will just have to be patient… isn't that a form of 'ancient wisdom?'" Daolon Wong sneered. The monk took the shot with an even deeper scowl. "Though you may want to know that the mixing of magics worked just as expected. The good wizard cannot break it just yet."

The monk smiled and clasped his hands together in fiendish anticipation. "Wonderful. All is going according to plan."

"We will have to move soon." Wong continued. "It will not take long for that blasted wizard to figure something out."

"Blast… we could never hope to strike with Chan, his Uncle and his Uncle's student all protecting the girl. Obviously we must think of a plan and… what are you so happy about?" the monk growled at his accomplice, for Wong's face was steadily twisting more and more into a terrible smile.

"We are in luck, magician. Chan, and his Uncle, and the student have all left, have left the children all alone. Oh, and the chi wizard left a paltry protective spell around their store. How adorable."

"Excellent! Can you cast the return spell on the girl?"

Wong scoffed, taking offense at the very idea. "Obviously." He rolled his eyes. "And what's more, I can do so very soon… are you ready to fulfill your end of the bargain?"

The monk smirked. "Ancient wisdom: the wolf that hunts the resting calf always eats well."

"I… shall take that as a 'yes.'"

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, Back At The Chan House<em>

Twenty minutes later, things had wound down considerably. Without Uncle or Jackie to boss them around (or Tohru to do the same in Jimmy's case), the three teens retired back to Jade's room to hang around for a while. Xu-Lin rested on Jade's bed with her back on the head of the bed, trying to relax. Jade sat on the floor next to her leaning on the bedside and reading a magazine, while Jimmy sat a cluttered and mostly unused desk off to the side over a bunch of notes.

There was much groaning and grumbling from the desk as Jimmy struggled through the various subjects he had to study.

"You're making a lot of noise over there, Jimbo," Jade mused. " Need any help?"

"Help? From you?" Jimmy said incredulously. "No offense, Jade, but I'll pass."

"Hey! I'll have you know I've got amazing potential in chi magic!"

"Yeah," Jimmy groaned, rubbing his side as he sifted through a multitude of unpleasant memories. "So much potential it hurts."

Xu-Lin watched the exchange quietly, trying to keep her laughter as silent as possible. Jade really was quite haphazard when it came to magic, but she wasn't about to drag herself into this by saying so.

Jade, meanwhile, was rolling her eyes with as much gusto as she could manage. "Come on, Jim! It's just locator spells, jeez!"

"Fine. So why don't you tell me what I'm doing wrong here?" He gestured to his notes with a skeptical air.

Jade walked over and peered over his shoulder for a long moment. Jimmy and Xu-Lin sat in amused silence as she seemed to pore over every bit of the conundrum Jimmy was gridlocked by. And then, after half a minute or so…

"I got nothin'." She shrugged and walked back to the bedside and her magazine as if nothing had happened. Jimmy rolled his eyes and turned back to his work, but Xu-Lin stood up curiously.

"Maybe I could give it a try," she said serenely, walking over to the desk. Jimmy looked shocked, but Jade gave a satisfied smirked – she knew how this would end.

"Er… that's ok…" Jimmy stammered as Xu-Lin walked over and began to look over his notes as Jade did. "This is pretty complicated magic, and I don't think you-"

"I think I have found your problem." Xu-Lin interrupted, not quite listening – though more due to concentrating than actually trying to ignore him. "You have mixed up your locator spells."

Jimmy gaped. Jade snickered. They both recovered quickly – Jade merely keeping her increasing laughter silent. "I… what do you mean?"

"You are trying to apply the aspects of a tracking spell to a guiding spell," Xu-Lin continued. "Uncle, I think, usually uses tracking spells, but guiding spells are something different. A tracking spell pinpoint chi and tell exactly where they are; like putting a plot a map, you must find where it is yourself though always know exactly where…"

"Hey!" Jade piped in, momentarily stopping her chuckles. "That's the kind of spells we used to track down the demon doors."

"I suppose," Xu-Lin paused uncertainly, having not been there for that particular adventure. "Guiding spells are different – they don't pinpoint chi, but are drawn to it. They thus draw you to it instead. You trade knowing exactly what you're looking for it for being able to be led directly to it."

"That's what we used to track down the demon chis! Wow, we sure deal with demons a lot…"

Xu-Lin shrugged, again not knowing much about that adventure beyond what Jade wrote to her about.

Jimmy, meanwhile, had gone back to gaping. "H-how did you know that?"

Xu-Lin shrugged. "I spent a lot of time exploring the enormous libraries of the Lotus Temple. Though I never thought I would need that knowledge..."

"Wow…"

Jade gave out one last chuckle and stood up. "Well, you study-philes keep doing your homework, I'm going to do something actually _useful_ and get a snack. You two want anything?"

The two others shook their heads no and Jade left. Xu-Lin went back to lay on the bed as Jimmy went back to work, keeping the new advice he had just gotten in his head. Within minutes he had made some headway, charming a simple pen to home in on a person's chi. It was weak, but a success – he got it to draw towards a watching Xu-Lin on the bed, and then make it shoot to floor where Jade was likely raiding the fridge downstairs.

He grinned and tore back to papers to take note of his success. This cut down on the time he thought this would take by a quite a bit, he was done already!

"You know, you're a lot better a study partner than Jade," he mused without turning around. Xu-Lin did not answer, so he continued. "Usually she just bugs me while I'm trying to work, and causes some kind of disaster when she tries to help out." He laughed, and continued in a teasing tone, "it's kind of nice to have someone who can do my work for me instead of making it ten times as tough."

There was a long pause, so much that nearly turned around before Xu-Lin finally spoke. "… you should go."

Jimmy really did turn around this time – so fast he nearly fell out of his chair. "Aw, I'm sorry!" More so than most other things, Jimmy hated to accidentally offend people – especially friends. "That was a joke! I'm sorry if it came out wrong, I…" He trailed off as he finally saw the girl – she was clutching tightly onto the bedsheets, tensely shivering with her eyelids and teeth clenched together.

"No…" she groaned. "I am… changing…" Two horns shot out of her forehead as her hands darted up in what looked like a bizarre attempt to push them back it – it would be almost comical if it weren't so shocking. "You should go… get Jade… run…"

"No!" He darted up, different spells and magicks he had learned cycling through his brain at high speed in an attempt to find something that could help. "Maybe I can-"

"No! Cannot control… please, go now! Aaaaaargh!" She gave out a scream which turned into a roar, and suddenly she was four times as big, towering over Jimmy with fangs and talons and a very dangerous glare.

Jimmy edged back slightly as the monster rose off the bed, which had collapsed under its weight.

"X-Xu-Lin? Um… calm down, now." He gave what he hoped was a calming gesture with his arms. However, today did not seem to be his lucky day.

The monster roared directly in his face, prompting him to turn tail and run. At least for the moment. Xu-Lin was right before she changed: maybe it was time to regroup. He tore out the door of the room and banked hard towards the stairs, ignoring the sounds of the monster tearing apart the room behind him.

"_Oh, man," _he thought, _"Jade is going to go freak about this."_ He jumped down the stairs two at a time and almost bowled into a familiar figure at the bottom. _"Speak of the devil…"_

"What happened up there?" Jade gasped. She had apparently taken off in the middle of eating, if the potato chip crumbs on her shocked face were any indication. "I thought I heard-"

She was interrupted by the sound of the monster bursting out of Jade's room, tearing apart the doorframe in the process. It bellowed angrily and turned down towards the very frightened duo.

"Uh oh…" Jade's voice was wavery, a sure sign her signature confidence hadn't quite caught up with the situation yet. "This is so not good…"

"Duh!"

"Hey, don't steal my lines."

Jimmy stared at her. "We're about to die, and that's all you care about?"

"She won't kill us… I hope," Jade said, still sounding not quite as confident as Jimmy would have liked. "She'll just-"

Before Jade could expound on what Monster! Xu-Lin might do instead of hurting them, said monster jumped up through the roof showering them both in falling planks and spinters.

"-jump through the roof, I guess…" Jade finished lamely. "Whew… I was actually little scared there."

"A little?" Jimmy's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Riiight. What happened to Uncle's wards? They should have-"

"- I don't know! You're the wizard-in-training! Did you do anything?"

"No, but… I dunno." He hunched over wearily as he tried to think of what went wrong.

Jade, on the other hand, shot to attention. "Crud! We should be trying to follow her!"

Jimmy smacked his forehead. "Oh… duh!"

"Stop doing that!" Came the reply. Jimmy turned to retort, only to find that Jade was already running out the front door. He ran out after her to find that in the time it took for him to reach the door she had already nearly scaled up to the roof – something he couldn't do at all, least of all in that kind of time.

"How does she _do_ that?"

The chase was on. On the roof, Jade began to tail the retreating form of her transformed best friend, while Jimmy followed at ground level.

"_Odd,_" Jade mused, while trying to keep a safe distance and think of what to do. "_She's not rampaging or attacking any one. She just keeps going in this one direction._ _I wonder…"_

She was snapped out of her thoughts and to attention by the sound of Jimmy calling from the alleyways below. "Jade! What are we going to do?"

"I don't know!" She called back. It was hard enough following Xu-Lin while she was like this, let alone stopping her. "Maybe… aha!" Up ahead, she spotted a larger alleyway between two sets of buildings, and on the other side from where they were she knew there was an open dumpster (she had once… borrowed… it for a prank). She knew in this monstery form Xu-Lin could make the jump easy, but what if Jade were to drag her down and guide her into the dumpster maybe they could trap her.

"Ok Jimmy! Get ready! Time to take out the trash!" She winced at her own tactless joke as she leapt forwards, while Jimmy darted into the alley to be ready to act. "Sorry, Xu-Lin…"

She need not have apologized. On the plus side, she managed to get a solid hold of a mound of white fur. On the other hand, she acted too early. Instead of getting dragged down mid-leap, the guardian was able to readjust before jumping and was in no danger of falling. Instead, in mid-spring it twisted Jade to it's front and blasted her in the chest with a freezing roar. Knocked out cold and partially frozen, Jade was totally unable to stop herself from plummeting to the ground.

"JADE!" Jimmy yelled. He quickly ran under her and caught her before she hit the ground, but was unable to adjust to her weight in time. With a yell he toppled backward into the open dumpster, taking Jade in with him.

A few seconds later he emerged, wincing and covered in trash. Hearing the tell tale sign of claws running across a rooftop fading away into the distance, he sighed and made ready to carry Jade back to Uncle's shop.

* * *

><p>The bestial creature that was usually called Xu-Lin lumbered on over the rooftops of San Fransisco, never veering from its due course. Several people noticed the crumbling of old roofs or the sound of its rough climbing, but only caught a glimpse of a rushing white trail before it disappeared further down its path.<p>

It was confused by it's own actions: it could feel intruders everywhere, but instead of punishing them it was irresistibly drawn to something it could not identify, something straight ahead of it that reached out to her.

Not only that but… it remembered but a few minutes ago, when it knocked the one it deemed definitely not an intruder out of its way and onto the ground below without a second glance as to how she landed. Something deep inside itself nearly made it turn back to see whether the girl was all right, but it pushed it down.

It had someplace to be. Wherever that was.

* * *

><p>Uncle's reaction when the adults returned was not pleasant. It took several "aiyaa"s and finger whacks to everyone involved to get him back to a semi-normal "slightly more cranky than usual" level, and even then he was volatile enough to snap at them for the slightest interruption.<p>

So while he pored over his wards to discern what went wrong with his protection, Tohru and Jackie helped calm Jade and Jimmy down with some tea and a little talk. Jade, who was mostly unharmed from her fall, was resistant to such attempts however…

"Look Uncle Jackie, Tohru, I appreciate you trying to take care of us and all…" she said, nursing the large band-aid on her head, "but **I DON'T WANT TO SIT AROUND HERE DRINKING TEA!** Our friend is out there totally out of control, if we don't do anything…" She stood up sharply and made a motion towards the door – the third in the last ten minutes – but a formidable hand gently guided her back to a seat on the couch.

"We understand, Jade," said Tohru with his usual calm compassion, though there was an mistakably stern edge to his voice. "But we can't act without knowing what is going on. And we are not going to lose you to Daolon Wong and his partner as well, so you might as well stop trying to go after them."

Jade made no further attempts to leave, but crossed her arms in frustration all the same. "Ok, I get it. You're worried. But so am I! And I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"Could be worse," Jimmy quipped from his place at the dinner table – he was assuaging his own worries with a mild snack. "They could still be asking us exactly what happened every two seconds. At least now we're actually making some progess."

"Er… yes." Jackie said, "And we aren't be doing nothing. We are simply waiting for Uncle to-"

"Hatchaa! You talk like Uncle is slow as lame tortoise!"

All eyes turned towards the old man, who managed to walk up behind them without any of them noticing. Jackie instinctively ducked away just in case Uncle decided to whack him again, but Uncle did not seem interested.

"Alright Uncle!" Jade sat up to attention, looking slightly more cheerful now that Uncle was ready to talk. "What did you find out?"

Uncle removed his glasses and began to clean them in silence, while the others waited tensely. After he placed them back on his nose, he spoke with a contemplative serenity. "Daolon Wong." He said by way of easy explanation. "His dark magic must have broken through."

"That rat!"

"Calm down Jade…" Jackie said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

"Wong forced transformation in Xu-Lin, then drew her to him with further enchantment." He sighed deeply. "Is difficult to do against people normally, but much easier with her…"

"Monsterness?"

"Thank you, Jimmy," Uncle continued. "I have tried spells to find her, but Daolon Wong blocks my attempts to pinpoint her location.

Tohru nodded. "A guiding spell then, Sensei?"

Jimmy bolted up out of his chair. Early, he had nearly fainted upon finding out that in tearing her way out of Jade's room Xu-Lin had also totally destroyed his notes. He was eager for an opportunity to show he actually had done the work he was supposed to.

"A spell to draw us directly to her chi? That could work. We could follow directly to her no matter how much Wong tries to cloud their position!"

Tohru smiled. "Excellent Jimmy. I see you did your work after all."

Jade smirked slightly, despite herself. "For once…"

Jimmy looked sheepish, but that quickly gave way to a somber expression. "Well… to be honest it's all thanks to Xu-Lin. Can I help cast the spell? I want to help her – it's the least I could do, I guess."

Tohru grinned at the sincere compassion in his apprentice's voice, which despite the situation made him proud and very glad. He was only a lower level chi wizard, and usually it would be decades until a trainee like he used to be would graduate to full wizardhood let alone take on an apprentice – to prove himself in having an apprentice that as apt and good-willed as his own was an honor he did not take lightly.

"Of course, if it's all right with Sensei." He turned to Uncle, who nodded absently, but Jackie cut in before Jimmy could celebrate.

"But after we set out, you and Jade will remain here and wait for us to return."

"WHAT?" Jade shot up again shooting off a blazing expression. Jackie, who had been expecting this, countered her angry glare with stubborn impassivity – no matter how much fire Jade breathed it did not look as though he would crack this time. "You expect me to just sit here while Xu-Lin's life hangs in the balance?"

"For right now, yes." Jackie's voice was as firm as his stare – he was not backing down at all. "You were already hurt, you need to take it easy."

"Hey! Whatever happened to me being 'mostly unharmed!' It's just a bump on the head… and a few bruises. And so what if I stink like trash, Jimmy does too!"

"Hey!"

Jackie clenched his temples and sighed. "You are going to stay here and at least pretend you don't want to go rushing into danger aggravating your condition."

"It's fine..."

"_You were knocked off a building!"_

Jade sat back down with a grumble. "I knew I should've told you that part…"

"Jimmy?" Jackie continued. "You're in charge when we head out. Make sure Jade doesn't follow us."

It was Jimmy's turn to shout in surprise. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"You'll think of something."

"Hey, if Section 13 can't do it…" he mumbled too low for anyone else to here, shooting Jade a nervous glace. She gave him a defiant look that did not help his confidence.

"Enough!" Snapped Uncle, who had been already gathering the ingredients to the spell while the others argued. With a huff he dumped them in the middle of the room, grabbing everyone's attention once again. "Let us work before our enemies escape right under our nose!"

* * *

><p><em>Another Twenty Minutes Or So Later<em>

Currently, it was looking like there would be no escape for Daolon Wong and his monk benefactor. They had transportation all lined up fine, in fact their helicopter – a crude means of transportation that Wong found beneath him – was all lined up and ready to leave. That was not the problem.

"I do not like waiting…" Wong grumbled to his associate, who was meditating silently, which Wong currently found quite cavalier and annoying given his own impatience. "Where is the girl?"

Indeed, the abandoned dock that they had made their departure zone was currently empty of their intended captive – it was only with her that they could do what they set out to do, and thus all action came to a stop until she finally arrived. Whenever that would be.

"Ancient wisdom: the rising tide comes in slowly but brings great boon."

"Will you stop that!"

The monk raised an eyebrow without opening his eyes. "Did you not cast the spell to bring her here yourself? Have patience."

Wong scoffed silently and stared off into the distance… very soon he would have his power back and he would have no further need of this irritating charlatan.

"And to break you out of your reverie," the monk continued, "I believe I hear our boon approaching as we speak."

Wong pricked his ears up and after a moment heard it as well: the crumbling crunching of something large bounding towards them. He smirked.

"Finally!"

The beastly guardian ran up from over a nearby warehouse roof and jumped forward in front of them, snarling angrily as it recognized the two who drew it to this place. The monk nodded at Wong, who smirked even wider and held up a glowing hand. The creature was immediately beguiled by it, and though still tense all aggression seemed to seep out of it. Instead it walked up toward the glow aimlessly like a moth to a flame.

"Yes… you are under my control now." Wong kept up his charm until it was standing directly before him, and his smirk turned into a sneer. "Far too easy," he waited a moment to make sure the spell would definitely not fail, before turning to his partner. "You want to transport this on that?" he scoffed, pointing to the helicopter which while industrial strength and more than capable of taking them across the ocean on its own, would be unlikely to be a pleasant ride to share with a Yeti-like beast..

The monk thought for a moment. "Excellent point. Change her back for now…"

Wong nodded and waved his hand a second time. Instantly the form of guardian faded away into the teenage girl yet again. She gasped and collapsed to her knees, weak from her transformation.

Wong rolled his eyes. "Get up, I do not have time for this." The girl did not budge, she did not even seem to have heard him.

As it has always been before, once back to her senses Xu-Lin could immediately recall mostly everything that happened while she had changed. And as always, she felt nothing but guilt. She had torn apart Uncle's store after the man had opened his home to her, she had run rampant around San Fransisco – again – and… oh no… her heart stopped as the remembered the last part.

Jade. When she last saw her best friend she was careening off a rooftop by her own hand. She had not even looked back, Jade could be critically injured, or worse, as far as she knew.

"N-no…" her voice was the merest whisper – obviously she was talking to no one but herself. "Jade… I-I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"Enough of your whining," Wong growled, and he used a wave of magic to force her to stand. Using another burst, he directed her towards the aircraft. She was too tired, too lost in her thoughts to resist, but she did attempt to glare at her captors all the same.

"Why..?" Despite her tone remaining soft and quiet there was a ferocity in her voice that did not suit it – it was so rarely there, after all.

"We need you to gain access to objects of great value, child." The monk spoke with deceptive warmth, but there was no hiding the truth behind that malicious smile. His eyes glinted with cold amusement and he chuckled. "An unfortunate necessity. No hard feelings, you understand."

Xu-Lin could not remember the last time she had shouted so loud, but then again she could not remember the last time she had been so angry, either. "YOU FORCED ME TO HURT MY FRIENDS! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" She shook with rage, and unbeknownst to her her eyes glinted a very light blue for the merest of seconds. Wong and the monk noticed this and shared an amused glance before used one last spell to force her through the door into the aircraft.

"I can live with that…" Wong sneered again. Xu-Lin's head fell with tearful resignation as he mocked her outburst.

The cruel smile never left the monk's face as followed her up the steps. "You should learn to live with it, child…" he gestured to the back room of the helicopter, and her feet walked into it of their own accord. "After all, when Jackie Chan and his family inevitably come to stop us, it will be you who will take care of him for us… heh heh…"

Xu-Lin's eyes widened with shock and fear. "N-no-" The monk heard nothing more as he slammed the back room door in front of her.

"Wong! Are you coming?" He called to the outside – after all the complaining his accomplice did regarding the payoff he assumed he would be the first to be telling the pilot to get going.

"Wait a moment…" Wong whispered just loud enough for his partner to hear on the inside. He had been about to board, when he felt a chi he had not felt in a long time – one of the things he missed greatly about having his powers was the ability to feel the flow of chi, and now he was feeling one he had known, and hated, for quite some time.

"Daolon Wong!"

Sure enough, from around the corners of the warehouses littering the dockside came the piddling nuisances of cavalry – or so they thought they were. The infuriating good chi wizard and his entourage. How expected.

"Chan!" He snarled, readying his magical tools for a satisfying duel.

"We are not ready for them yet!" said his partner. "We are leaving! Now!"

Daolon Wong scowled. He would very much like to take his revenge now, but his comrade was right. It would not do to jeopardize the mission now, and the last thing he wanted to think was that his years in prison had made him lose his meticulous patience – he, Daolon Wong, mastermind of the arcane arts!

So with great disappointment he instead made a gesture and created a circle of flame around the aircraft, stopping all entry for the time being. He could already see the good wizard taking out his accursed blowfish and chanting, so he did not have much time. Without taking another look back he turned and climbed the stairs up

"Where is Xu-Lin!" He heard behind him. Apparently the wizard's nephew had rushed up as close as he could to the flames in a vain attempt at bravery. Wong chuckled malevolently in response, gestured for the pilot to take off, and looked out of the window in grim satisfaction as he saw his enemies disappear like ants below him…

* * *

><p>The helicopter took off just as Uncle managed to dispel the ring of fire blocking their path. In a brief mad moment Jackie tried to leap up and grab the bottom – he had done so before, he was somewhat sad to say – but he missed by a few inches, and just like Daolon Wong and the monk were up and away, likely carrying Xu-Lin in tow.<p>

Jackie resisted the urge to kick something in frustration.

Beside him Tohru sighed deeply, looking just as angry and worried. "What will we do now? What can we do?"

"We will have to think of something. We won't let them do this. I-"

"Jackie!"

Jackie turned around in surprise and subsequently groaned and slapped his hands over his eyes. Naturally, Jade and Jimmy had followed them the entire way. As they ran up, out of breath – they had probably run the whole way - Jackie shot Jimmy an exasperated glare. Jimmy just shrugged in response.

"What happened?" Jade said, not missing a beat. "Did we miss the action?"

"Unfortunately. Wong escaped with Xu-Lin."

"No!"

His hand met her shoulder again. "But we _will_ find them." She looked up at him, but to his surprise to look on her face was not sad but readily determined.

"You bet we will! We know where they're going!"

All eyes (besides Jimmy's) turned curiously towards her. "We do?"

"Yeah," Jade pulled a printed piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to her uncle. "After you left it suddenly hit me, so me and Jimmy looked it up. Tomorrow the moon is full over China!"

"The full moon… but that means…"

"The Lotus Temple!" Jackie and Uncle shouted in unison.

Jade smirked. "Anyone up for a trip back home?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>The term "it's going to get worse before it gets better" comes to mind.

Surprised to see another chapter? I know right? It's been what, three months? I have to say I'm sorry, but stuff always seems to distract me. The good news is I think I can finish this one and get onto the third in just one more chapter and an epilogue. Maybe.

Anyways, introducing Jimmy! He was mentioned earlier but this is the first time he shows up on camera. Much like Xu-Lin he's from a one-shot episode, so if you don't know who he is go back and watch "J2 Revisited," I believe it was.

The cast of characters is nearly complete! I'm so excited...


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